Correction: Despite their initial story, Variety now say that Paul Thomas Anderson‘s “The Master” will not be playing Venice. Apologies for the misleading info. Looks like NYFF or Fantastic Fest are still in the game.

After something of a wild goose chase (see above), the Venice line-up was announced this morning on the festival’s official site, and although somewhat given away by the TIFF announcement a few days back, the big ticket is “To The Wonder,” the second film in two years from anti-prolific auteur Terrence Malick. The film stars Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Javier Bardem, Barry Pepper, Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams, the latter of whom also features in another big premiere, starring alongside Noomi Rapace in Brian DePalma‘s latest, “Passion.” The U.S. line-up is also completed by Ramin Bahrani‘s “At Any Price,” with Zac Efron and Dennis Quaid, and in a surprise move, Harmony Korine‘s “Spring Breakers,” with James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez.

Films from high-profile international auteurs in competition also include “Something In The Air,” the latest from “Carlos” director Olivier Assayas, Takeshi Kitano‘s “Outrage: Beyond” and Brillante Mendoza‘s second film of the year, the heretofore-unknown “Thy Womb.” Ulrich Seidl, whose “Paradise: Love” premiered in competition at Cannes this year, has its follow-up in Venice too, with “Paradise: Faith,” and Kim Ki-dukreturns with “Pieta.” The home crowd are represented by Marco Bellocchio‘s “Dormant Beauty,” (with Isabelle Huppert), Daniele Cipri‘s “E’ stato il figlio” and Francesca Comencini’s “Un Giorno Speciale.”

And there are also films from Israel, with Rama and Yigal Bursztyn‘s “Fill The Void“; France, with Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth‘s “La Cinquieme Saison” and Xavier Giannoli’s “Superstar“; Portugal, with “Linhas De Wellington,” by Valeria Sarmiento (and also starring Huppert); and Russia, with Kirill Serebrennikov‘s “Betrayal.”

As for the out-of-competition films, the most high-profile is probably Robert Redford‘s starry thriller “The Company You Keep,” while there’s also new documentaries from Michael Mann, Jonathan Demme and Spike Lee (his Michael Jackson doc “Bad 25“). The latest from centenarian Manoel De Olivera is also in competition, along with U.S. indies “Disconnect,” with Alexander Skarsgard, and “The Iceman,” with Michael Shannon, while Pierce Brosnan stars in Susanne Bier’s “All You Need Is Love.” And genre fans get China’s “Tai Chi 0” and Australia’s “Shark (Bait 3D).” Oh, and a four-hour picture called “Penance” from “Pulse” director Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Awesome.

Among the notable absences (although it’s worth noting the closing film hasn’t yet been announced) was the hotly tipped “Anna Karenina,” which won’t be world premiering in TIFF — with a September 7th opening in the U.K, perhaps it’s skipping the festival circuit entirely? Other hot tips that haven’t yet been announced include Nicolas Winding Refn‘s “Only God Forgives” and Bahman Ghobadi’s “Rhinos Season“

Still, it’s a firmly exciting line-up even without those aforementioned films, and like last year, we’ll be there across the fest with coverage of all the big premieres. The festival kicks off on August 29th with Mira Nair‘s “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” and closes up on September 8th. Check back for our verdicts, and read on below for the full line-up.